


Heart of Bronze

by orphan_account



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, back when Erebor gets taken by Smaug yup, sad stuffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-05
Updated: 2013-02-05
Packaged: 2017-11-28 08:06:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/672140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nori wants freedom, Smaug thinks you should be careful what you wish for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart of Bronze

**Author's Note:**

> I'm super proud that this thing won second place in a small fic competition, so I figured I'd upload it. 
> 
> All the dwarves are so interesting in their individual ways, but I find that Nori doesn't seem to have a very established character, because he doesn't interact much with the others.

  Like everything and everyone, Nori had once been young. He had been naïve, and innocent, and his face had always been decorated with a childish smile. He had looked up to his older brother Dori, and in return, Dori taught him what he knew, for their father was rarely present, and their mother was a terribly fragile woman for a dwarf, not one to go into the woods near Erebor.

    Dori taught him to swim, and soon the young one was better at it than his older brother. Dori taught him to fight, and soon, Nori could pin him down without much trouble.

    Nori grew fast, but even though he was the taller brother, Dori would always mother him.  “ _Don’t touch that, it could be poisonous_!”, “ _Be careful or you’ll fall_!” and “ _Don’t talk to strangers_!” would be heard at random times, shouted at Nori from a distance.   

  By the time their mother was pregnant for the third time, this time expecting Ori, Nori fought against his brother for his own independence. He already had a beard, and while it was a small one, it was a beard nonetheless, and this meant he was almost an adult now. When Ori finally came, Nori could not care less - he was ready to grow up, ready to leave home, why should he care that there would be a screaming, crying dwarfling in their home? Or rather, he wanted to get out because of the dwarfling.

    And so he left. He left without a word to his brother - now brothers - and only a short letter for his mother, written in tiny letters that were difficult to read. However, he barely got out the front gate before he heard shouting, and when he looked up he was struck with a paralyzing fear. He would have died right where he stood had it not been for a strong arm that lifted him up and pushed him back inside the mountain and a voice belonging to the same owner, telling him to hide.   

  That was the last time he saw his father, and he was shaking with more guilt than fear by the time his brothers found him, Dori carrying the little one in his arms.

    This was when he took Ori from the older brother’s arms and held him tightly as they ran from Erebor.

     “I will protect you, little brother.”


End file.
